BEIJING, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- China reportedly has arrested or fired a number of health workers in Shandong province over claims that they were behind forced abortions or sterilizations.
State-owned media printed a statement from the National Population and Family Planning Commission saying it had received "successive complaints" about illegal practices in the city of Linyi, the BBC reported Tuesday.
"Some persons concerned in a few counties and townships of Linyi did commit practices that violated law and infringed upon legitimate rights and interests of citizens while conducting family planning work," the statement said, without explicitly mentioning abortions or sterilizations, or stating how many health officials had been jailed or dismissed.
Time magazine said last week that some 7,000 people in Shandong province had been sterilized against their will.
Reports say couples with two children were forced to undergo sterilization, while women expecting a third child were forced to have abortions.
China, the world's most populous country, initiated a one-child policy 25 years ago, under which urban couples are offered strong incentives to have no more than one child, while rural families are allowed up to two.
However, the government does not authorize health workers to carry out forced sterilizations and abortions.
